Tag Archive for New Year Goals

It is hard to believe that 2015 has come and gone in the blink of an eye. I thought there would at least be 12 months…..oh, wait…..there were and they flew by so fast that I can only hope 2016 will move a little slower.

This is the time of year that we all consider how to make this next year be different in some way. Some of us have goals. Some of us have resolutions, some of us make lists, and some of us just hope that this new year brings about some changes of some kind or continuation of things we like that happened last year.

I have never been one to make resolutions, but I do have hopes. For those of you that know me, I always have HIGH hopes. I seem to want the moon, but will take a piece of cheese if that is what happens.

My hopes for this year is for moderation in projects that I attempt this year. Moderation in gardening, moderation in landscaping, moderation in my budget, moderation in activities that take time away from what I would really like to do, and moderation in expectations of myself. There it is, those HIGH hopes once again!

I think my biggest hopes are to travel a bit more this year, to spend more time with my family, and to have a bit more time for my own quilting projects. Scheduling did not go as I wanted last year so I definitely need to make a change to allow more ME time.

I also hope to be able to write more on the blog and post more photos of the quilts that I complete for myself and for my clients. I was not very good at posting last year and I apologize. Time management seems to float right out the window on many days.

Speaking of time management, now is the time to think about the quilt tops you would like to get quilted this year and call to get placed on the schedule. The slots fill up before you know it and then my turn around time is further out then either of us would like. I do have some clients that keep a consistent slot every two months so they know when there time is available and they are ready to go.

I truly wish you have a 2016 that is relaxing, loving and pieceful! I leave you with a few photos for a bit of eye candy until I post again. Another hope, to post more regularly this year.

Many years ago, I had a horoscope that was quite impactful to me. I would like to end the year sharing it with you: “Ten thousand years from today, everyone you know will be long dead and forgotten. There’ll be nothing left of the life you love, no evidence that you ever walked this planet. This, at least, is what materialists would have you believe. But suppose the truth about reality is very different? What if in fact every little thing you do subtly alters the course of world history? What if your day-to-day decisions will actually help determine whether and how the human species survives the turning point we’re living through? And finally, what if you will be alive in 10,000 years, reincarnated into a fresh body and in full possession of the memories of the person you were back in 2012? Which is why I say : LIVE AS IF YOUR SOUL IS ETERNAL!”

I could certainly use the fresh new body even though I do not believe in reincarnation. I am not sure that my actions could/would impact the entire human species. I do believe that God has a plan for each of us but our free will allows for those day-to-day decisions and those definitely are long reaching, and do determine turning points we are living through. I do want to have memories for myself and my children to cherish and hold on to for generations to come. I do want evidence that I was here on Earth and that I gave it my all, that I enriched the lives around me, that I positively touched many souls. As far as having full possession of the memories of the person I was back in 2012, I just hope as I continue to grow older, I hang on to some memories, I am not even wanting full memories. (Getting old really does mess with your memory. Ha ,Ha.)

I want to be remembered as good, kind, giving, loving, and full of life. I want my quilting to remain as evidence that I was here, that I had passion, that I positively touched many. I want to believe that in God’s plan, my soul is important. I choose to: LIVE AS IF MY SOUL IS ETERNAL and I will be remembered.

So as I enter the new year, I need to reevaluate my day-to-day decisions, plan my time for quilting, fun, and time with family and friends. I need to rethink mistakes and enjoy the coming year. I hope to blog more frequently, take more pictures, and quilt, quilt, quilt. P.S. I hope to learn to take video for quilting tutorials and stuff.

I send my love and wish you a Happy New Year. Not just say, “Happy New Year”, but truly wish it for you! Keep quilting! Sue

A lot of individuals write and talk about setting goals this time of year. It is so easy to think about starting the New Year and doing some things differently. I know that I REALLY want to get many of my OMOS (One More On the Stack) projects completed. It is not my only goal, but it is definitely the one that keeps staring me in the face.

The statistics are not in my favor to accomplish this goal. 75% of those who make New Year resolutions give up in the first two months. It takes three months of consistently working on the goal for it to become a healthy habit. (I could have the healthy habit of quilting, quilting, quilting.) I also need to be realistic with my time and not become discouraged, just because the technology whirlpool has grabbed me by the behind and is sucking me into the black hole this week.

Goals should be set as positive goals and be specific. Measuring goals incrementally helps keep you on track and sharing your goals helps make you accountable for your actions. Planning my day with specific time to work on OMOS should be a great way to keep me accountable and on task. HOWEVER……..

I also need time for creativity for my quilting projects. I need time to look at a quilt top and have it “speak” to me about what should be quilted on it. I have found that by using a couple of strategies, I am able to have great ideas for LongArm quilting that quilt top.

Those same strategies help me in my daily actions, and have a huge impact on the creativity of the projects I do. You can say, “OH, I am not creative.” Each of us is creative, but we stop the creative process sometimes before we even let it get started.

Three important steps to take to start the creative process are:

Be quiet. Let your brain settled down and rest. All the lists and chores and errands and activities rev up the brain and then it becomes stressed. When it is stressed, we are stressed. When we are stressed, we do not listen, learn, remember, or think well. It is very difficult to be creative when we are stressed. So, sit and be quiet and calm. Give your brain even 10 minutes to let all that stuff that is jumping around inside calm down.

Put together a file (or use Pinterest), a bulletin board, or a notebook of some type to gather those ideas that generate other ideas. Pictures of quilts or great LongArm quilting designs are in my file so that I begin to see what works for certain types of quilts. I also keep pictures of quilts from shows or magazines that I really like. Sometimes it is the color, not the pattern that I like. Sometimes it is the reverse.

Focus, focus, focus. Slow down and really pare down the project you want to do. Many times I need to let my mind “not think” so that the ideas begin to flow more readily. If I am allowing the brain to move, move, move, I am not focused and might as well be doing chores and running errands. Take the time to look, focus, and SEE.

Optimism is a key to creativity. Change how you think about your environment. Change how you look at your world. Definitely, change how you speak. The flowing of positive, optimistic ideas create far more than the “Eyore donkey of ideas, thoughts and words”. If you say you are not creative, I will bet that you just limited yourself. If you spend time thinking negatively, you will not be creative. You cannot build from the garbage. Garbage in is garbage out. You can soar from the clouds though with optimistic movement.

So, what ideas do you think about this quilt top and the LongArm design the quilt is asking for?

I drove around looking for red in my environment this afternoon. I wanted to look at what was around in my cold, though sunny, day. Red is around even though you may not consciously be aware of it.

This is definitely the color red that attracts attention.

I know that there are some red berries that attract the attention of the birds. And I know that there are some red branches on some of the leafless bushes around. I did not see any other red flora or fauna. Red is in all of our seasons, but I know that I am looking for red TULIPS.

So just how does red make you feel? We all know the negative feelings, but what about those strong, bold, sexy, feelings that red produces? Just a little bit of red in a quilt definitely adds that extra highlight or SPARK that can make a ho-hum quilt, a great quilt.

Red is tough to match sometimes. It depends on the fabric manufacturers’ mood as to whether you can find true red, orange red, violet red, deep dark red, burgundy, or going the other way, the pink reds. I think I like them all.

I was certainly looking for Tulips when I made this Tulip, Tulip quilt. It is using a Michael Miller fabric that is just mouth-watering. I used it in the center and appliqued and paper pieced the border. with black and polka dots as the highlight. It is a favorite of mine. I have it hanging so I HAVE to walk past it daily. What a way to put a smile on your face!

Reds are great! They give me that great emotional impact! So, what is in your stash? Are you ready to pull some reds out and get started on your next quilt? Here are a few I had on the top of my bin of red fabrics. Now what can I do with these? I am still looking for those red tulips. I guess that these will just have to do until I find other ones in my stash (or at the quilt store).

I definitely SEE red, FEEL red, and EXPERIENCE red! Now I have the whole month of January to play with lots of red fabric in my quilts…….oh wait, I forgot that I have a few OMOS (One More On the Stack) to work on first. I am still focused on that goal. Don’t hold it against me if I forget the goal by mid-January though. I do have it written down so I am continually reminded of that particular goal for this year.

I am working on you having the availability to subscribe to my blog. I will keep you posted on that. I need to have a young person, who understands that foreign language to help me. Seems that the black hole of technology likes to just grab hold of me and down I go. I do not even want to begin to tell you the technology stories of this week and we are only at Wednesday! Besides, it is technology that has brought us so far in the land of quilting…….

January’s calendar is already full for those LongArm quilting spots…..contact me for your spot for February and March so you get a place in the schedule. The spaces for T-Shirt quilts still has a couple of openings for January so be sure to be the one to fill those! Have a great RED, passionate, impactful day!

As with everyone, the start of the New Year is a time to contemplate the past year, new projects, and new goals. It is always easier to set up goals in the beginning, but time management and commitment play huge roles in meeting those new goals.

I have great difficulty with completing one project start to finish. I really like to always be quilting, but new projects keep calling to me and off I go, starting another project. I guess that I will always have something to work on with so many UFOs. I prefer to call each one of these unfinished projects, “one more on the stack”. I am not sure how many OMOS I have, but there are a few.

I am setting forth with several goals this year, 2012, and I truly hope to complete each one. I know that I will indeed need to manage my time to complete my projects, as well as stay on time with the quilts from my clients. So, thanks to my phone and Staples, I am set with tools for my time management goals and now need to organize my OMOS. I plan to complete at least one unfinished project (OMOS) each month. Here are a few that only need to have the binding put on and hand sewn down.

These two pictures show some of my OMOS (One More On the Stack) quilt pieces to have the binding sewn on by machine and then sewn down by hand. I do hope that I will get them finished as well as the quilt that I have on the longarm frame for my son, Jake, by the end of January.

I know that many of you have the goal to finish many of your unfinished quilts this year. I would love to hear from you and know what your projects happen to be. If you need help in finishing those projects, contact me. Remember that we do have binding services, as well as helping you get that top quilted.

I have a few openings in January for a couple of tops (remember, I went to Staples and now have my new 2012 calendar up and going). So if you need to have a T-Shirt quilt made for a special person this year, or you need to get a top quilted, don’t wait until the last minute. Speaking of waiting until the last minute, I do have another goal of NOT waiting until the last minute to get to projects this year. Maybe I will try and fit in a gift for the holidays starting in January this year. I will not call it a new project though, as it will be a Christmas gift.

I leave you with a quote I ran across in my studio. I do not have the author. If you know who wrote it, let me know so I may give credit….

“May today there be peace within. May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others. May you use the gifts that you have received and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content with yourself, just the way you are. Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us.”